Does My Insurance Cover Mold Damages?

Homeowners insurance policies often include vague wording regarding mold coverage.  Therefore, it can be difficult to determine whether any mold damage you encounter will be covered. Typically, policies exclude coverage for mold damage, except when the mold is the result of a covered claim, such as water damage.

Home insurance policies usually don’t cover mold that resulted from a preventable water leak, flooding, or high humidity. Which typically is why mold has occurred in the first place.

Is mold covered by homeowners insurance?

Home insurance companies also typically don’t pay for maintenance issues. Because the insurers think a homeowner should have prevented. Insurers expect homeowners to proactively take care of those problems. Before they need to file an insurance claim if not it is considered to be negligent.

Example Scenarios Where Mold Remediation Is Covered:

1. Your water heater ruptures, so the releasing water that causes black mold to grow on the in surrounding walls.
2. You experience a home fire. Firefighters use water to extinguish the flames which develops mold.
3. Mold is growing along the base of your cabinetry because your dishwasher malfunctions and floods your kitchen.

When Home Insurance Will Likely NOT Cover You:

1. Your basement pipes freeze and burst. You don’t notice it for a few weeks. Now, you have a few inches of water on your floor and mold growing.
2. Broken shingles on your 40-year-old roof allows water into the attic. Water saturates wood and insulation and leads to mold in the attic.
3. Mold forms in your shower. You don’t think much about it until one day you notice that it’s really unsightly. And now you’re concerned about whether it’s making your family sick.

In these cases, an insurer, you, will likely not cover the damage. Because an insurance company expects you to take care of your house. So that means properly ventilating the bathroom, replacing an old roof, and checking your basement regularly.  An important reason to stay on top of home maintenance.

Also, the standard homeowners insurance policy does not cover water damage caused by a flood.  Therefore, if a flood causes water damage that leads to mold. The resulting mold issue would not be covered by your home policy.

A separate flood policy, will cover mold and mildew, as long as it’s not caused by the homeowner’s failure to inspect and maintain the property after the flood.  So that means, once you can get back into your home. You need to start trying to clean up and keep mold from growing or spreading.

How do I know if my home insurance policy covers mold?